Do You Properly Make and Consume Tea?

Tea is the first medication our planet gave us. Although they are widely used even today, you, same as many other people, probably consume and make them in a wrong way.
Even though doctors don’t prescribe them often, many medicinal professionals believe in the power of tea, and many people around the globe nurture their health thanks to the healing properties of many herbs. They contain essential oils, polyphenols and pigments. They also have many beneficial properties because of which they are often considered as hunters and killers of harmful free radicals. They are made out of dried up parts of plants and are used for external as well as internal purposes.

Unfortunately, a lot of people slander teas, because as they claim, teas are not effective. However, not many of them think through why is it so – do they make mistakes in preparation process or even in the selection of tea type.

Tea really is effective, you just need to know the correct ways of preparing and using them. The same goes for tea supplements such as honey, lemon, milk…

Beginner’s guide

It’s best if you used tea in the form of leaves – always prefer it that way compared to tea bags. Always keep it in a sealed container. Use a teapot or something similarly shaped so leaves have enough room to spread around.

Teas are well known for their wide array of healing properties – black, green, white and oolong tea are made by pouring 200 millilitres of moderately heated water over a spoonful of tea. For these, you don’t use boiling water. When water boils, you leave it to cool to a certain temperature (pay attention to instructions on the box).

Exceptions are black, fruit, rooibos and some other herbal teas for which you need hot water, but again, not boiling. You prepare the tea by boiling the water and leaving it covered to cool for only up to five minutes. After that temperature should be between 90 and 100 degrees Celsius, which is ideal. You pour that water over tea, cover it and leave it for the period of time marked on the box, 2 to 10 minutes on average. Green tea and leaves of tea tree can be used several times.

Keep in mind that tea needs to be in the water for at least one minute, but most of them (except for some specific kinds) become bitter after five minutes.

Choice of “material”

Use high-quality tea. If you love or drink them for your help then don’t try to save too much on quality tea. It’s recommended to use spring or filtered water – without chlorine. Always use fresh water. Pot in which you make tea and boil water should be kept only for those purposes.

If you’re adding lemon or honey, add them only when tea cools a little. They are characterized by thermal liability, which means they lose their beneficial properties on high temperatures. Of course, some teas have different ways of preparation, they can be put together with water before it boils or even left to cool up to an hour, it all depends on instructions written on the box. Some teas are also prepared with cold water because they tend to lose their beneficial properties on higher temperatures.

Harmfulness and dosage

Yes, tea can be harmful or even useless if you don’t prepare or preserve it properly (for example, some teas have an expiration period of six months after the date of production). Do not add more than it’s recommended thinking you will get better, healthier tea. You can make it too strong and even cause heartburn.

As far as dosage goes, adults can drink up to four cups a day (unless more is advised). For children, the advisable dosage would be one to two cups a day. Do not make stronger or weaker tea, instead adjust quantity.